Beat Your Dental Phobia

A recent study from Columbia Dental School and the University of Washington suggest that 30 to 40 million Americans avoid the dentist because of fear. That’s a lot of people who are missing out on care that is critical to their overall health and quality of life.

If you’re one of the millions of people who are scared of the dentist, chances are you’ve tried to get over your fear. However, if that hasn’t worked, it’s time to start looking at other options to ease this fear and enjoy better oral hygiene.

Meet the Doctor Beforehand

Oftentimes, anxiety is magnified for someone when they don’t know the person who is working on their mouth. Dr. Hoang likes to meet all patients beforehand so that he can get to know them and help make them a little more comfortable with him. This makes a huge difference when a person comes in for a procedure.

Reason With Yourself

Most patients fear the dentist because they’re scared of pain. This is totally normal and natural. And whether it was a bad experience in the past or simply a perception that going to the dentist is a painful experience, this alone can be the reason why you avoid the dentist.

Consider, however, that today more than ever there are solutions to pain that make the dentist a pain free experience. By visiting a dentist like Dr. Hoang, who proudly serves all patients and specializes in treating those with a dental phobia, you can rest assured your treatment will be as gentle as possible.

Ask About PreTreatment

Oftentimes, patients need a little something to take the edge off of their treatment. We will sometimes prescribe a pretreatment medication that relaxes patients enough to come in, get treated, and leave without experiencing any of the anxiety that they might otherwise have felt.

Distract Yourself

It helps for patients to bring their own distraction to the office. It might be listening to music or a Podcast or getting caught up on Game of Thrones while you have your teeth cleaned. Whatever it is, distractions can help drown out noises around you and distract you from your procedure.

Discuss Control With Us

We want our patients to feel comfortable telling us when they are experiencing fear or anxiety. That’s why we welcome patients to create a signal that tells us while we’re working on them when they’re uncomfortable.

When a patient signals discomfort we stop what we’re doing, listen to the complaint, and remedy it. The typical signal is simply raising the hand. It’s easy for a person to do and obvious to our entire chairside team.

Don’t let a dental phobia run your life. You can experience great oral health by establishing a relationship with our team and ensuring there’s a mutual understanding and respect of your fear, as well as a plan for how to conquer it.

Give us a call to schedule an appointment and learn more about how our entire team is trained to work with individuals who are scared of the dentist.